Meeting Harry Potter
by Louatown
Summary: I don't know what I expected when I left my house to interview the great Harry Potter today


**MEETING HARRY POTTER**

 **Disclaimer:** nothing is my own

 **A/N:** I'm just throwing it here. Unbeta-ed, probably with loads of mistakes. Sorry.

 **I don't know what I expected when I left my house to interview the great Harry Potter today. Certainly not seeing him greeting me warmly at the door, casually dressed in muggle clothes with a big smile on his face. Dressed like this, he looks less intimidating and could have passed as an average wizard. He leads me toward the parlor and as we pass the various rooms, I can't help but let my eyes wander. The house is beautifully decorated and I compliment him on his tastes. He laughs and tells me it's his girlfriend's work, and that she practically did a miracle because the house looked anything but beautiful the first time he set foot in it. I could spot some pictures here and there. They are mostly of his loved ones and very rare of him. He says he doesn't like being photographed. He offers me something to drink, tells me to make myself at home and when the drinks arrive, we're off.**

 **Witch Mag: I don't know where to start. I guess it's a bit unrealistic to know that I am actually inside your house. No one outside your circle has ever set foot here.**

 **Harry Potter:** It was probably the most protected house in London but people who weren't supposed to be in the secret found out and [shrugs]

 **WM: You are very protective of your private life why did you change your mind? Why now?**

 **HP:** I'm still protective of my private life and I will always be. But things were starting to get out of hand. The harassment, the rumors, the hatred…A friend suggested getting things straight once and for all.

 **WM: Ginny was the first to reach the media to talk about the truth. Did you know about it?**

 **HP:** Of course! She sent me an owl and asked my opinion. She was protected in Hogwarts and thought she should do something.

 **WM: That was very nice of her!**

 **HP:** She's amazing. [He smiles] That interview has made me do this one actually. I felt like someone else was fighting my battle for me.

 **WM: So you're still friend with Ginny Weasley?**

 **HP:** I never stopped. There was a time where we weren't in touch but it was the time I was away and I was in touch with none of my friends. We're still very much friends. You know, we grew up together. I spent a great part of the summer and Christmas at her home when I was still at Hogwarts.

 **WM: How did you react when you read the papers about your supposedly painful breakup and fights?**

 **HP:** I didn't read them. [Laughs] Hermione told me Ginny set the papers on fire. For my part, I learnt not to believe everything written on them and not to pay them too much attention.

 **WM: Up until now**

 **HP:** Well, my girlfriend's being followed everywhere and it was starting to raise suspicion among her coworkers. Besides, she's not used to the attention. I know she tries to handle it as much as she can but it's hard.

 **WM: You'd think that after everything you've been through, you'll get some peace.**

 **HP:** I found peace. That's why I came back. For a time, I've thought it was related to this place, the wizarding world in general, that if I was left alone, if I lived somewhere where I wouldn't be recognized I'd be in peace but it's not about that. It's about me, who I am and who I am with.

 **WM: are you talking about what happened after the war?**

 **HP:** Yes. Defeating Voldemort has been a great relief but it lasted just the time I went to sleep. When I woke up and made my way to the great hall, I was greeted by the sight of dead bodies wrapped in blankets, injured people, and students mourning their fallen friends. It all started there. People kept congratulating me, praising me, and my friends kept telling me not to feel guilty because they knew me so well. But the more they were nice and kind to me, the worst I felt. [he pauses a moment] The Weasleys have lost a son and a brother yet they welcomed me in their house, took care of me and made sure I wasn't feeling guilty. I was craving comfort but wouldn't accept it when offered it. I made a duty of remembering each of the people who died at Hogwarts, their faces haunted me every night but I welcomed them willingly because I thought it was my punishment. I went to each of the funerals, I've missed my ex-girlfriend [Ginevra Weasley] for months but I wouldn't let her comfort me and worst of all, I couldn't stand seeing my godson [Teddy Lupin]. I looked at him and couldn't help but think about the life I had as a child, and I felt terrible because I sentenced him to live the same life. So I left.

 **WM: Did you find what you were looking for?**

 **HP:** I wasn't looking for anything back then. I just wanted to get away from England, my life, myself…and eventually the wizarding world.

 **WM: Why did you come back in England?**

 **HP:** I realized that living in hotel room wasn't the life I wanted. I was anonymous yes but I don't know, it felt like living in a plastic city. It wasn't real.

 **WM: so you came back and met Cho?**

 **HP:** She lived next door. She was the first person from my "Hogwarts" life I encountered since my departure from the wizarding world.

 **WM: Did you hit it off immediately?**

 **HP:** Surprisingly yes [he grins]. We've had a history and it could have been awkward but it wasn't. As I said before, people grow up. Eventually, we talked about it but we realized that we were past it. We didn't make a big deal about it. She helped me find a job so I wouldn't raise suspicion among our neighbors, she invited me to brunch the first day because I wasn't installed yet but as the days turned into weeks and eventually into months and when my flat was still empty, we developed a routine where we were comfortable. My house never got equipped and I ended up living with her.

 **WM: Do you think it was destiny?**

 **HP:** [laugh] I seriously don't know. I remember after…well, I told her I would have never thought I'd be this close, she told me when it's time to let go, then it's time to let go but if we were meant for each other, then it was just a matter of time.

 **WM: it's beautifully said.**

 **HP:** But it could have been anyone.

 **WM: So when did you know it was her?**

 **HP:** When she made me realize that whether it's in the wizarding world or among the muggles, as long as I was with her, I was home.

 **WM: is that why you came back?**

 **HP:** Yes. Early in our friendship, I took her to a um, she's pure blood so all the muggle things were new to her and I just took her to a full day without magic in muggle London and later, much later, she took me back to the wizarding world and that's when it hit me. The very next day I visited my friends, sent my acceptance letter to the Aurors and in three days we were ready to move here.

 **WM: Said like that it seems easy…**

 **HP:** It wasn't. Those months we spent together were wonderful but it wasn't real. We both belonged here. We never left, we fled. And we had to face our problems.

 **WM: It must have been a shock for you to go from a peaceful-anonymous-life to media harassing you!**

 **HP:** It was a shock when I was eleven. At nineteen it was expected. I knew what awaited me so did Cho.

 **WM: But it was still very difficult for her.**

 **HP:** Talking about it is very different from living it. We were just settling in, readjusting and there were those crazy rumors and crazy letters. Aside from that, there was a lot of pressure from her family. It hasn't been easy. We were still healing and the craziness didn't help. I miscalculated it.

 **WM: Was it starting to affect your relationship?**

 **HP:** No. But it affected her even though she tried to hide it.

 **WM: About those rumors, I never pictured you as the kind of person to reach media to straighten things up.**

 **HP:** I am not. I could have lived with those rumors but they affected my entourage more than they affected me. The Weasleys are like family to me, they welcomed me as one of them when I was eleven! I couldn't bear the tension those stories brought especially when things were starting to get better. Of course everything is fine between us, perhaps a bit awkward but definitely fine. The drama is in the media but it is still difficult to seat with your actual girlfriend with whom you supposedly cheated on the other girlfriend whose parents happen to be sitting just across from you. Ginny is at Hogwarts but in just a few months she'll be free to start her adult life and Cho has a muggle job where no one knows the guy who picks her up every day is actually, I hate to say this, a wizard celebrity. She's been asked questions and the harassment is ruining her life.

 **WM: So you're having dinner with the Weasleys with Cho?**

 **HP:** Of course! As I told you, they are family to me.

 **WM: So those rumors about Cho and Ginny being at war are totally false?**

 **HP:** With Ginny still at Hogwarts, the chance of an encounter is very slim. But we've talked about it. Cho knows that there'll always be a place for Ginny in my life, that the Weasleys will always be family to me. And as for Ginny, I think that interview is proof enough that she's fine with it. I'm not saying it's easy, that it'll be easy but I know we'll manage.

 **WM: I read somewhere that they had a terrible fight about you and went on a duel?**

 **HP: T** hat's [laughs] I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous!

 **WM: Who would have won?**

 **HP:** I don't know. It would have been a par I guess.

 **WM: you seem to have a type of girl: sportive, beautiful, strong personality…**

 **HP:** I've never thought about it like that. But now that you mention it…

 **WM: You receive a lot of letters I heard.**

 **HP:** [nods]

 **WM: Do you read them all?**

 **HP:** Winkie likes to read them.

 **WM: Who is Winkie?**

 **HP:** Oh! She used to be Mr Croupton's house elf but now she works for me.

 **WM: She works for you?**

 **HP:** well, you know I'm a member of SPEW so um yeah. We pay house elves…

 **WM: What is SPEW?**

 **HP:** I'm sorry it's S.P.E.W not SPEW. It's something Hermione created when we were at Hogwarts. It helps house elves and fights for their rights.

 **WM: I didn't know that. You are really something…**

 **HP:** Oh no, it was Hermione's idea. Ron and I just followed but we agree.

 **WM: so what do you do with the letters?**

 **HP:** She would put the nice ones in a pile and the mean ones in another. I sometimes read the nice ones when I have time.

 **WM: What about the mean ones?**

 **HP:** Oh Merlin! Don't even get me started with those! You know, I don't' receive much of those even though I am the one labeled the "cheater." Ginny and Cho got the worst of it, they are both being called names, people are actually taking sides! It's mental! We just want to live our life in peace!

 **WM: Being the Boy-Who-Lived has its privileges I guess! I mean, people are nicer to you even though you're the cheater.**

 **HP:** [laughs] totally!

 **WM: the Auror robes are quite intimidating too**

 **HP:** So I was told.

 **We hear a long wail from upstairs and Harry briefly stood up to listen. We hear footsteps then the baby eventually calms down.**

 **HP:** Before you start writing about secret babies, no it's Teddy. My godson.

 **WM: Today's the first time I've seen how he looks like. He's in a lot of photos.**

 **HP:** I wasn't going to show his face to the whole wizarding world of England to see and to harass later.

 **WM: Does he live with you?**

 **HP:** No. He lives with his grandmother. But I take him as often as I can. Now if you don't mind, let's go back to the topic.

 **WM: Of course. You are doing a great job as an auror. Aren't you tired of the fighting and the death-eaters hunt?**

 **HP:** After seeing what I saw and living the life I lived, all the rest seems pointless. I don't know. I feel the need to fix things up as much as I can. I can't just go play Quidditch and let the others clean up behind the mess I've made!

 **WM: But don't you think you've helped enough?**

 **HP:** I'm going to sound like a jerk but I didn't do it to help people. I did it to avenge my parents and because I was tired of our game of hide and seek. I never thought, "I'm going to save the wizarding world" while chasing after the horcruxes. In my head, it was: "it's either him or me".

 **WM: The house seems very calm. I heard you live with two friends, where are they?**

 **HP:** I live with Ron [Weasley] and Neville [Longbottom] but they are off visiting their families.

 **WM: How did you end up living together?**

 **HP:** Ron's my best mate…as for Neville, he just came back from a trip to South America and didn't feel like living with his grandmother anymore so I invited him. With Cho it was natural.

 **WM: Was it hard living with a female for the first time?**

 **HP:** we did it back in muggle London. And no. I've seen worse. She's very neat, you saw the house. It's lovely. She keeps me grounded and brings normalcy in my life. Also she adds a feminine touch in this boys' nest. She takes care of us.

 **WM: what about the others?**

 **HP:** I shared a dormitory with them for years and they are scared of Cho anyway [chuckles]

 **WM: How so?**

 **HP:** I really don't know! [Laughs] Ron says she's really intimidating but I don't know why, he wouldn't tell me. As for Neville, he grew up with his grandmother and having a girl in the house is simply a new world for him.

 **WM: Do they get along?**

 **HP:** Pretty well actually. Ron loves playing game of chess and Cho is the only one who can stand it. She does the gardening with Neville. And we all love Quidditch.

 **WM: you seem to live a normal life after all**

 **HP:** What did you expect to hear? We do very normal things! Well, sometimes our friend Dean would come over and we'd have a party or Cho and I would visit our old [muggle] neighbors.

 **WM: in five years, where do you see yourself?**

 **HP:** Happy…and alive, hopefully. Still doing my job, perhaps I'll be teaching at Hogwarts too. I don't know. I was a terrible student so I doubt I'd be hired. I don't know really!

 **WM: Do you picture yourself with a family?**

 **HP:** Of course. I was an orphan; a family is what I've always wanted! So far, the Weasleys, the Order and the D.A have played the part of a surrogate family but I'd love to have my own. Eventually…

 **WM: How many children do you want?**

 **HP:** [laughs] I don't know! At least two I guess. One seems lonely.

 **WM: Thank you very much Harry for having me here. Now, I'd like to take one picture of you to go with the article.**

 **HP:** Of course. Where do you want to take it?

 **WM: Here will do.**

 **Harry settles down in his favourite chair next the fireplace, smiles that boyish shy smile of his and asks hopefully if the photo is good enough. I tell him I'd like to try some more, perhaps in his study…he leads me toward the staircase and stops at the base to retrieve a toy his godson has dropped there. Camera at the ready, I snap a photo as he grabs the red muggle toy and looks up. It's perfect I tell him, a bit surprised he asks me if it really is but the relief in his voice is unmistakable. He accompanies me at the door and before it shuts behind me, I take a last look at his house.**


End file.
